Members of the Maryland Marriage Alliance said they have collected more than twice the number of total signatures needed to put the issue before voters this fall.

Chanting "let the people vote," the grassroots coalition led by the faith community delivered box after box of petitions to the Secretary of State's Office on Francis Street near the State House.

"We're turning in, by the end of this day, 113,505 signatures," said Derek McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance.

Opponents must submit a third of the 55,736 signatures needed to petition a law to referendum -- or 18,579 -- by Thursday. Opponents of the law then have until June 30 to submit the remainder.

A recent Marylanders for Marriage Equality poll of voters indicated 57 percent of those surveyed support same-sex marriage while 39 percent said they do not. Supporters of the law said they believe momentum favors their side.

"The collection of those signatures does not reflect the growing momentum among Maryland voters. The truth of the matter is our opponents have lost ground," said the Rev. MacArthur Flournoy, faith director for Maryland for Marriage Equality.

Nationally, the polls have confounded what voters actually decide as 32 states put same-sex marriage to a statewide vote and all have rejected it.

"We've won 32 states and we intend to win the state of Maryland also. Thank you," said Bishop Angel Nunez of the Maryland Marriage Alliance.

"The right will win out over the media, will win out over the unions. The right will win out over the gay and lesbian community. The right will win because the right is right," said Baltimore County Delegate Emmett Burns Jr., D-District 10.

"When President Obama and the NAACP comes out and they wanted to support this issue, well, great. We appreciate that because you helped energize our crowd. People that were on the fence are no longer on the fence. They're engaged," McCoy said.

The opponents said Baltimore County led way in signatures. State officials have 20 days to verify the signatures.

Citing disclosure reports filed with the state, a statement released Wednesday by Marylanders for Marriage Equality indicates the National Organization for Marriage funded a significant portion of the signature-gathering efforts.

Maryland's new law, passed in April, legalizing same-sex marriage does not take effect until January, leaving time to get the measure on November's ballot.